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Put my husbands mind at ease.....

Since we have watched my new grandchildren ( baby bunnies) grow sooooo fast within the past few days. My husband keeps asking me to post another question for you all. When do we have to start to worry that the babies "may" reproduce?
We are actually thinking ( please lock me up! :lol: ) of keeping all the babies. That will make us now with 8 rabbits! :shock: Obviously it will cost quite a bit of money to get every bunny a hutch of their own. Im trying to figure out how much time we have till its a MUST they are seperated.

Thanks as always
Nicole
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I think its about 8 weeks, I'm sure someone will give you a firmer answer though.

I would consider having all the males neutered, which will work out cheaper than buying individual hutches and then you can pair up the bunnies and they can share hutches. That will prevent any more babies, stop the humping and the bunnies will be happy having a friend to snuggle up to :D

Males can be neutered from 16 weeks so you could get the adults done now and spread the cost a bit as you then have four months til the babies need doing.
 
8 weeks...frightening isn’t it :) I just had the 1 spear hutch that was used for the babies when they was old enough.... but then the babies I had was probably smaller then yours. You could always buy 2 second hand cages/hutches and separate the boys from the girls when they can leave their mother.
 
Oh my goodness!!! That soon! (sigh). I really dont know why Im surprised considering everything else is sooo fast! :lol:
This is going to make me sound like a real idiot but......well, when we got the other rabbits it wasnt till they were much older that it was obvious that they are males. Their testicles were not obvious. Even with much observation on our behalf! :shock: They were much older than 8 weeks too! Is there any other way I can find out on my own since I cant find a vet ( yet) to have them checked out?

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Its quite tricky until the males testicles drop at around 14 weeks that its really easy to tell ;) Until then its much trickier. There are some photos here which might help: http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=648

If you can't find a vet then you may be able to find a helpful breeder near you or a member of the HRS that doesn't mind having a look.

If you haven't done before a second opinion is a very good idea cos just one mistake can cause a population explosion!

Tam
 
Tamsin said:
I would consider having all the males neutered That will prevent any more babies, stop the humping and the bunnies will be happy having a friend to snuggle up to :D

Do I ever agree with you! Ever since I learned that a bunny can be fixed I have been trying to find a qualified vet to do it. Between the surprise pregnancy with Oreoelle and the issue we have with the male bunnies humping everything in sight I definately want this!! :lol: But I havent had any luck YET..Im still looking :) But if I dont find one or they want some crazy amount of money to do the surgery I want to be prepared to buy ALOT more hutches :)

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Here you go, recommended bunny vets in Florida: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/vets

I don't know if any are near you though?

The House Rabbit Society might be able to point you at the local branch who will probably have a list of vets: http://www.rabbit.org/hrs-info/contacts.html

The other way to find a vet is to look up local rescues/human societies and ask them what vet they use.

You could also try asking on a US mailing list. This is a big one: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/etherbun/ hopefully there will be someone in your area that can pass on a recommendation.

Its difficult finding a good vet :( If the above doesn't turn anything up then you just got to go through the telephone directory and phone them up and ask questions.

You could always ask for a bulk discount!

Tam
 
Tamsin said:
You could always ask for a bulk discount!

Tam

:lol: Isnt that ever the truth!! :lol:
Thank you for all the wonderful links! Hopefully I will find a vet that is qualified to do what is needed.

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Yahoo!!!! I have no idea what they charge to do the operations but atleast there are a few vets around ( within 50 miles) me that come recommended!

Thank you so very much!
Nicole

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sorry but i keep minie rex and yes the small breeds do mature quicker but not that quick, my some of my babies have stayed with mom till 12 weeks and still have one with its mom and he is about 18 weeks old but he is bit inmatuer for his age but hasnt tryed anything, but felames can stay together but at about 13 weeks old at the latest i would seperate males and females.
what i would do is if u plan to seperate the males from females and keep daughers with mom i would take mom and her daughters away and put them in the new hutch so the males can get used to be being away from there mom with out being to stressed as they will still be in there home they were born in cause with my babies i take mom away from then about 2 weeks before they go to there new home. they can be seperated at the earlyest 6 weeks as they will have been fully weaned although mom will still feed them as i know someone who had a mom and daughter living together and the daugher was about 1 yr old and still tryed to feed off mom :lol:
this breed they will be fully mature at about 5 mths old but dont breed does till about 6 mths
becky
 
Thank you for all the advice! I found a vet just a few miles from me that will atleast see rabbits and treat them ( no surgery though). What I am planning on doing is once the rabbits are old enough to travel (not sure how old that is btw :? ) is taking them to that vet to be checked out to make sure they all are ok and find out what sex they are. I figure if I atleast know what sex they are I can seperate them and work on getting all fixed . I hate having to spend the money on more hutches when all might not be needed in the future but the cost of the hutches is alot cheaper than the surgery. :| The vet I found that does the surgery is quite a few miles away and cost a small fortune to do the surgery! :shock: :( So I will have to have one bun done at a time ( no group discount....I did ask! :lol: )

Nicole

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Pleased that you mangaed to find a vet willing to see your rabbits.

But please bare in mind that unless he is very experienced the babies can't be sexed until around 5/6 weeks, and sometimes they are difficult to sex at 10 weeks.
 
I have been reading your thread all the way through, congrats on your bunny babies. Just wanted to say how brill they look and how big they are getting! It is hard to find a good bunny vet even in the UK, I've just found a brill one and very happy now. I hope you find a good one soon.

Nicola
 
Have to agree with Rexy bexy, there is no way you need to worry about your babies reproducing at 8wks. They will be fine with mom until that age, most breeders would seperate from mom between the age of 6 - 10 wks, depending on breed, not because the babies would reproduce at this age but because mom would have had enough by then and will need a rest from the babies constantly pestering her for milk. When you do seperate them from mom, leave the babies together in the cage they were born in and take mom away. This reduces the stress on the babies as they don't have to cope with losing each other and a new cage at the same time as losing mom.

I would leave the babies together and not take to the vets before 10wks, this way there is less likely to be any mistakes when sexing. You can then seperate boys from girls. The girls may be able to stay together for good providing they have a big enough hutch they will usually stay friendly but as they get to around 5mths you will need to watch for any bullying behaviour and you may have to seperate although if you have them neutered they will stay bonded.

Boys are a different matter, once the hormones kick in they will fight with other males unless they are neutered.

It is possible to keep all the rabbits together if you have all of them neutered and give them alot of room so they can get away from each other if they want too. A unneutered doe will mount a buck once her hormones kick in and she gets frustrated, 1st time I saw a doe do that I thought I'd sexed them wrong, lol. :?

It sounds like your doing a great job with the babies, enjoy them, its fantastic watching how quick they grow.

Yvonne
 
Yvonne said:
The girls may be able to stay together for good providing they have a big enough hutch they will usually stay friendly but as they get to around 5mths you will need to watch for any bullying behaviour and you may have to seperate although if you have them neutered they will stay bonded.
Boys are a different matter, once the hormones kick in they will fight with other males unless they are neutered.

Yvonne
Thank you for the advice and the compliment :) It will be interesting to see just how they all interact with each when they are older. I can honestly say I have never seen a "rabbit fight" despite having so many bunnies. (Knock on wood!) They interact with each other daily too. I tend to have the opposite problem...overly affectionate bunnies with no morals or standards! :lol: :shock: :)

Nicole
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